Posted on 07/05/2022 8:26:50 PM PDT by sphinx
Despite the fact that both the pandemic and uncertainty around moviegoing continue, 2022 has already been a solid year for cinema. At the midway point, one obvious trend from our best-of list is the absence of big-budget tentpoles: The Batman and Downtown Abbey: A New Era weren’t quite well-received enough to warrant inclusion, and the less said about Jurassic World: Dominion, the better. Top Gun: Maverick, however, is more than just a commercial success story, so don’t give up on studio pictures just yet.
What instead dominates this list are indie distributors—thoughtful, modest fare with ambitious emotional reach. As far as scorecards go, it’s hard to beat A24: All five of the studio’s features released in 2022 are among The A.V. Club’s favorites. Read on for our chronological round-up of the best-reviewed films of the year so far.
(Excerpt) Read more at avclub.com ...
The recurring movie ping list question recurs: What has the movie industry done for us lately? What good, reasonably recent (let's say, 2021-22), reasonably conservative movies/tv shows are YOU willing to pass along to your fellow freepers? And if you've not seen any good recent movies, let me suggest an experiment. Take five minutes and scan these lists with the intent of finding two or three good ones to watch. Two or three good movies out of a list of 25 is a decent return on five minutes of scanning a list. You won't like them all. But you will like some of them. Take a chance. The alternative is relying on your streamers' algorithms to spoonfeed you, and what they will do is serve up an endless stream based on what you watched in the past -- while keeping you quarantined from content on other platforms, so you will never be exposed to most of what is available. Better to be an active consumer, find a movie that interests you, and then figure out where to watch it.
The linked list of 25 films is meant as a prompt, not a blanket endorsement. I picked this list out of many because it passed my first low-bar screening test -- namely, it includes my current pick for the best film of the year, After Yang, and the most thematically conservative film I've seen so far this year, Montana Story. (Note: this is not a political film. By "conservative," I refer to moral sentiment. This is a collection of admirably stoic characters whose every instinct is to swallow their hurts, which are significant, put on a stiff upper lip, soldier on, and behave decently at all costs. When the mask finally does slip, momentarily, both the characters recover very quickly. As true stoics should. You will like everyone in this film. Reality is conservative, which is why liberals who tell honest stories and don't cheat can make films we can appreciate.) This list is reasonably broad: a couple of tentpoles, a couple of documentaries, and enough foreign films for the "I hate Hollywood" folks. It perhaps is a bit heavy on indie small movies that you've not heard of, but the other lists lean in other directions so that balances out.
If you don't like this list, here is another list of 20: The Film Stage midyear best of 2022 list
And another: Yahoo midyear best of 2022 list
And another: IndieWire midyear best of 2022 list
There are a couple of dozen more such lists where those came from, all in the last week or two. Just search on "best films/movies of 2022." Why so many lists all at the same time? It's not a conspiracy; it's worker bee beat reporters all responding to the same calendar under the same relentless deadline pressure. If they have to do one longer form piece a week, in addition to their regular quota of ordinary reviews, that's 52 a year. That's a lot of blank slots to fill when it's just you, a blank computer screen, a hard deadline, and the demand that you conjur something out of thin air. You need hooks for stories. So the reporters all pencil in the December/January "most anticipated for next year" piece. And the June/July "midyear report." And the upcoming December/January retrospective on the past year. That's a start. Only 49 more to go. Production writing is a killer. Lists like these are generated like clockwork because everyone is on the same treadmill.
I find such lists useful, along with the list of selections for major festivals. I do not put any particular credence in any particular reviewer's opinion, because his preferences may be as quirky as mine. But if a movie keeps showing up on list after list, it just might be worth taking a closer look. I may still dislike it because of genre or stylistic preferences. Or I may object to it on thematic or political grounds. But I will at least know that a lot of people who watch movies for a living see some merit in it, and it is probably solid in terms of scripting, direction, acting and cinematography. That's a start.
Of the linked AV Club list of 25, I've seen five. Of these five, two are excellent. I hope lightning strikes and that they get some consideration come awards time. Two more I found solid and enjoyable; not great films, but passable. One I fully expected to dislike; I watched it as a deliberate exercise in opposition research. One of my New Year's resolutions is to try to focus more on the good films, as opposed to just railing about the bad ones. Another is to actually watch a film before criticizing it too severely. Maybe know what I'm talking about. There's a thought.
So: have you seen any recent (2021/22) movies or shows that you are willing to recommend to other freepers? I like Patton, The Godfather, Blazing Saddles and Blade Runner as much as the next guy, but there's no reason we have to wait until something is a golden oldie before discovering it. You and I aren't the film industry's target demographic, but that doesn't mean our kinds of films aren't still being made. It means we have to search a little harder for them. So if you've seen something good, put in on the table.
What percentage of Hollywood films, produced in 2022, didn’t contain a subliminal WOKE message ?
8 % ? Too high ?
You have to stick with pre-Obama-era movies to find any semblance of true entertainment.
Pinging the usual suspects. What movies/shows have you seen recently that you would recommend to a freeper audience? The film-related press is now publishing its midyear “best of 2022” lists. We can do the same. “Conservative” films don’t have to be narrowly political; we won’t find a lot of movies that qualify there, but there will be a considerable number that are conservative in moral, psychological and cultural terms. Reality is conservative.
Lost city doesn’t belong on the list but I enjoyed it. Hokey mindless entertainment If you watch it be sure to watch through the credits. Amazon running a special on paramount channel
The Batman movie sucked big time- it was horrible- sorry i wasted time watching it
Best movie in years is “Finding You” on Prime! Besides an outstanding storyline and being totally G, it also has wonderful pictures of Ireland.
Yep- i don’t watch new movies- and lately, I’ve even been noticing that movies i did watch back in the 70’s and 80’s had woke messages too- i just didn’t realize it back then- although their woke messages then were less overt- but they were still there- they were propagandizing about climate change, and homo stuff even back then-
This year? Got nothing.
Yep. Look at this description of an All in the Family episode:
“Beverly LaSalle, a transvestite and recurring character, and good friend of Edith a few days before Christmas (the result of a gay bashing). Beverly is killed. Edith Bunker has a crisis of faith and begins to wonder how God would allow people to punish one of his children.”
whoops typo
“Beverly LaSalle, a transvestite and recurring character, and good friend of Edith, is mugged a few days before Christmas (the result of a gay bashing). Beverly is killed. Edith Bunker has a crisis of faith and begins to wonder how God would allow people to punish one of his children.”
wow- nope- no thanks- wont be watching-
The Northman had potential but it was to heavily layered in Pagan Viking rituals with a stupid ending.
I grab whatever I can on Prime, Netflix (boo hiss), Hulu. Then there are the sub-channels on the above...Plex, FreeVee, IMDB. TUBI, etc. The year is what it is...as long as it looks interesting to me.
Just watched Red Hill tonight on Prime...an Aussie film. Not bad, no woke stuff. Kind of a modern day cowboy flick. Also rented Infinite (2021) last night for $1.99 on Prime. A Mark Wahlburg sci/fi movie. Also not bad. Binge watched The Terminal List the first day it came out. Ready for the 2nd season. Gotta say...it left me pissed off at the govt...again. I’ve also been sporadically watching “Jo”, with Jean Reno (French actor?). It’s a 2019 series with one season, 8 episodes, shot in Paris (Prime).
I suggested After Yang and Montana Story as two to watch. I think you would have to swerve way out of your lane to pick a fight with either of them about subliminal woke messages. There is probably a discussion to be had about diversity in both films, but I'm not going to stay up late enough tonight to see that through. Perhaps tomorrow.
What I will say at the moment is that After Yang was written and directed by Kogonada, who was born in Seoul and came to the U.S. as a child when his parents immigrated. As a first generation immigrant, he is interested in questions of constructing an identity. This is nothing new in American cinema; we all have immigration stories in our family trees, and many movies have explored related themes. In After Yang, which is a philosophical sci-fi film, Kogonada posits a mostly post-racial world. With one exception, every family depicted in the film is blended in some way. AND IT IS SIMPLY NOT AN ISSUE. The dividing line that matters in this film is between "natural" humans and "engineered" humans: clones and AIs. The implicit argument is that the color of one's skin shouldn't matter. We should have Kogonada's back on this.
The film has been very well reviewed, but the racist wokesters have attacked it precisely for being post racial in orientation. The leftist bigots attack it for featuring an international and transracial adoption. They attack Kogonada, a Korean American, for presenting Yang as "Chinese," and never mind that Yang is an AI designed and programmed as a helper for families with Chinese adoptions. Some of the critics object to Yang being played by Justin Min, who is Korean, not Chinese. Some of them attack the young girl who plays Mika, the adopted child, because young Malea Emma's family, which is ethnically Chinese, had been part of the overseas Chinese diaspora in Indonesia before coming to the U.S., making her inauthentically Chinese. Yang is an AI, which is obviously a microaggression because it depicts Chinese people as robotic. And Yang breaks down, which is an obvious microaggression targeted at the inferior quality of Chinese technology. Etc., etc., etc.
And Mika is a Japanese name. And a cover song sung by Mitski, a Japanese American artist, features prominently. The lefties consider these as offenses as well. Never mind that Kogonada's father, a Korean, grew up as a Korean expat in Japan and that Kogonada is a reformed academic who was writing a dissertation on Ozu, a Japanese director, before he turned to filmmaking. He is just an uppity Korean who has no right to adopt a pan-Asian esthetic and blend it into an overarching American identity. And on and on.
The racist buffoonery of the identity politics left is endless. There is a LOT to discuss here if we get into it. But be mindful that the hopeful world Kogonada projects is meant to be post-racial. That is something conservatives will generally applaud. It is the racist left that takes offense.
May I suggest that you watch the movie and then we can discuss it sensibly.
What percentage of modern films are not subliminally woke? Wow. That would require a Ph.D dissertation level of research. But a lot of films are simply non-political, and a fair number are culturally and morally conservative -- again, simply because reality is conservative, so honest movies that deal fairly with serious issues will give conservatives their innings. Casting gets more diverse all the time, but that reflects the reality of a changing America. The question is whether diversity in casting is forced and artificial, in which cases the filmmakers are obviously playing quota games, or whether it emerges naturally and organically from the story. After Yang and Montana Story are two good examples of how to do it right.
I agree about The Northman. It had potential but was ultimately disappointing.
I enjoyed Lost City. Not a great movie and not on the “best of” lists, but it was harmless, fun entertainment. A throwback film.
“The Northman had potential but it was to heavily layered in Pagan Viking rituals with a stupid ending.”
The creator of the Vikings TV series is a bud of mine. I find it perplexing that people who saw the Northman or even the Vikings series, get their conservative panties in a twist.
They’re Vikings. They invade. They murder. They pillage. They especially took slaves. They worship Norse gods. They also created the most painful torture known to mankind called BLOOD EAGLE. Were you expecting a Hallmark movie?
There are new movies? Who knew? Last new movies I saw were JoJo Rabbit, which I loved, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, brilliant sendup of the Manson murders..
I have AMZ Prime free movies and watch old ones free. A good one was “The Producers,” A hoot of a movie I never stop laughing it. Their stage show was “Spingtime for Hitler.”
you forgot the sold out documentary rated #1 on Amazon: 2000 MULES.
I love movies but my hearing issues make it hard to understand without subtitles so I wont be seeing this years movies until they are streaming. Sound recording in a lot of movies is terrible.
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